Dead Boys

Dead Boys

Dead Boys are a US punk band from Cleveland, Ohio, active from 1976 to 2005. The group forms out of Rocket From The Tombs, whose remaining members later become the avant-garde band Pere Ubu. The band’s line-up includes Stiv Bators, Johnny Blitz, Cheetah Chrome, Ginchy, Jeff Magnum and Jimmy Zero.

History

After moving to New York City in 1976, Dead Boys build a reputation for confrontational live shows. Their performances include lewd gestures, profanity and, on several occasions, singer Stiv Bators slashing his stomach with his mic stand. They play frequently at CBGB, the New York club closely associated with the punk scene.

In 1977 they release their debut album, Young, Loud and Snotty, produced by Genya Ravan. Their song “Sonic Reducer” becomes one of the best-known punk tracks and is widely treated as a classic of the genre. Sire Records presses the group to alter its image and sound for a broader US audience, and this contributes to the band breaking up in 1979.

A few months after the split, the band reunites to record a live album in order to complete contractual obligations. Bators deliberately sings off microphone in an attempt to sabotage the recording, which is later unusable in that form. When the material eventually appears on Bomp! Records, the vocals are re-recorded in a studio.

Dead Boys reform for several gigs in the 1980s. In 1989 they release Younger, Louder and Snottier, a collection of demos and rough mixes from their debut album. After Bators dies in France in 1990 following injuries from a car accident, the band later reunites without him for a one-off show in Cleveland in 2004. They also play a benefit show for CBGB and a reunion show on Halloween in 2005.

Related activity

After Dead Boys, Stiv Bators forms Lords of the New Church with Brian James of The Damned and Dave Tregunna of Sham 69.